Wheelbarrow.



No. 674,7!0. Patented May 2|, I90l. E. B. PEIRCE.

WHEELBABRUW. (Application filed on. 29, 1906.)

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INVENTOR BY ATTOR wrmzsszs.

UNITED STATES PATENT EDWARD B. PEIROE, OF LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS.

WH EELBARROW.

SEEGIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 674,710, dated May 21, 1901.

Application filed October 29. 1900. Serial No. 34,749. (No model.)

, To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD B. PEIRCE, a, citizen of the United States, residingin Lowell, in the county of Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have inventeda certain new and useful Improvement in Wheelbarrows, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to wheelbarrows; and it consists in the devices and combinations hereinafter described and claimed, the object of said invention being to facilitate the use of wheelbarrows in the construction of railways, in railway freight-yards, and on any rough sand or marshy land, and generallyin any place where railway-tracks are used or where temporary or portable rails may be laid.

In carrying out my invention I provide the Wheel of the barrow with a peripheral groove of a sufficient width and depth to receive the top or head of the rail and to prevent a lateral displacement of the wheel from the rail, making the tread of the Wheel of a sufficient width to support the wheel, when desired, upon ordinaryground or upon floors and platforms of depots or warehouses without unduly sinking into the surface of the ground or scarring such floors or platforms. I also provide means by which the wheel may be swiveled to an angle with the direction in which the barrow points, to enable the barrowinan while propelling the barrow in the direction of the rail to walk beside the rail instead of straddling the rail or using one foot on each side of the rail. This construction enables the barrowman to push a larger load on a rail with greater case than he could propel a smaller load on a rough surface, and the swiveling of the wheel permits the man in many cases to walk on the smooth ground beyond the ends of the sleepers or ties instead of on said ties. Means are also shown by which the wheel after being set at the desired angle may be secured at that angle or at will left free to follow the rail.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a wheelbarrow provided with my improvement; Fig. 2, a plan of the same on a rail, showing two positions of the body and handles of the barrow with reference to the axis of the wheel; Fig. 3, a vertical central section, on the line 3 3 in Fig. 4:,

of the wheel and part of the frame; Fig. 4, a front elevation of the wheel, axle, and parts of the frame.

The frame of the wheelbarrow consists of the handle-bars or side bars A, legs B, and brace 0, all of which are in duplicate and may be of any usual or suitable construct-ion, but which are preferably hollow for combined lightness and strength. The halves of the frame (each half consisting of a handle, brace, and leg) are held together by being rigidly secured, as by rivets or bolts, to the bed or scoop D, also of any usual construction, and at their front ends to the swivel-plate E or fork-holder. The swivel-plate E is provided with an upwardly-proj ectin g sleeve-bearing e to receive a stud f, rigidly secured to orintegral with wheel-fork F, on which said swivelplate rests. The lower ends of the fork F support the wheel-arbor f on which the wheel turns in the usual manner. The studfprojects up through the plate E and sleeve 6 and is screw-threaded at its upper end to enter a nutf,which is provided with suitable means, as handlesfiby which said nut may be turned to clamp said plate E between said nut and the top of the fork F and to hold the wheel G in the normal line of draft or at any desired angle therewith, or by loosening said nut f the wheel is left free to follow a rail R on which it may be running. The wheel has a hub 9 spokes g, and rim g of usual construction, except that the rim 9 is of greater than usual width and a groove g extends entirely around it and is arranged midway between its sides and leaves at each side of said groove a broad tread 9 these treads allowing the wheel to run upon wooden surfaces without cutting them and tending to prevent the wheel from sinking in sand and soft ground, the groove being sufficiently wide and deep to receive the top or head of a rail.

The wheelbarrow above described is thus adapted to run upon any surface, while the greater ease with which it may be run upon a rail is obvious.

Where no permanent rail is laid, a temporary rail consisting of a flexible rod or pipe B may be laid, the latter being preferred on account of its less weight, and such a rail may be bent laterally to avoid holes and obstructions on rough ground and to follow the turns of a winding path or road and may be bent vertically to adapt it to dilferent grades or inclinations of surface.

I claim as my invention 5 1. The combination, in a wheelbarrow, of

the frame, the wheel, provided with a peripheral groove to receive a rail, and means of 15 curing said wheel at any such angle desired.

3. The combination in a wheelbarrow, of the side bars, the swivel-plate connectingsaid bars, and provided with an opening, the fork,

having a stud which passes through and is adapted to turn in said opening and which is screw-threaded'above said plate, and a nut turning on said stud above said plate.

4. The combination, in a wheelbarrow, of the frame, the Wheeland means of securing said wheel at an angle to the direction in which the barrow points.

5. The combination in a wheelbarrow, of the frame, the peripherally-grooved wheel and means of securing said wheel at an angle to the direction in which the barrow points.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EDWARD l3. PEIRCE.

W'itnesses:

THOS. N. NIoKERsoN, JOSEPH C. SILVER. 

